World War Z hasn’t exactly had an easy go of things. Rumor has it that Marc Forster (yes, the director who was similarly in over his head with Quantum of Solace) lost control of the production, with budget overruns, constant script rewrites, and ghost direction forcing the film to move from a December 2012 release to a much more distant June 21, 2013 premiere. So, curious how that affects a film about Brad Pitt trying to save his family during a zombie apocalypse? Check out the first footage of the film below.

The clip comes courtesy of Entertainment Tonight (via Ace Showbiz and Cinema Blend), so of course you have a vapid talking head speaking over the entire thing with breathless hyperbole as they hype the premiere of even more footage on Thursday. That said, you do get a pretty decent peek at the Pitt, some zombies, and what appears to be the general tone of the film (Brad Pitt doing the ‘Tom Cruise in War of the Worlds, but with zombie’ thing while the Inception soundtrack blares in the background). Check it out:

Of course, there’s no way to glean the film’s merits or pratfalls from footage that brief, but it doesn’t look half bad—but then, the trailers for Quantum of Solace looked pretty good, too.

Looks like a big budget, overblown terrible movie and nothing to do with the book. I just hope this clip gives a false impression. The Walking Dead is full of tension and drama so why does this film version of World War Z have zombies that run when it’s not necessary?

http://www.facebook.com/mnosce M Luis Nosce

We are “Zombied-out” … everyone’s riding the “zombie wave” including the CDC … Please, we need a new gimmick. However, knowing me? I’ll probably watch World War Z, it may just entertain me …